ABSOLUTISM AND CONSTITUTIONALISM IN WESTERN EUROPE: 1589-1715
Absolutism: derived from belief in “divine right of kings”
sovereignty: embodied in the person of the ruler
Jean Bodin (1530-96): gave theoretical basis for absolutist states; wrote during Fr. civil wars
Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679: Leviathan
state of nature: anarchy results; central drive in every man is power
Man’s life in a “state of nature” was “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short strong,”
Ideas most closely identified with Voltaire: Enlightened Despotism (18th c.)
 Constitutionalism
John Locke, Second Treatise – natural rights: life, liberty and property
state of nature: humans reasonable & well disposed but handicapped by lack of gov’t
(Note: Rousseau’s “state of nature”-- humans essentially good but a few men take
property and resources corrupting communities. i.e., civilization corrupted humans; sought
economic equality whereas Locke sought equality of opportunity)
French Absolutism in late 16th through mid-17th centuries
Henry IV (Henry of Navarre) (1589-1610) – Bourbon dynasty
Duke of Sully (1560-1641): his reforms enhanced power of the monarchy
mercantilism: increased role of state in the economy
reduced royal debt, reformed tax collection, and improved transportation
Louis XIII (1610-43):
His regency plagued by corruption & mismanagement (mom ruled until he was of age)

Cardinal Richelieu (1585-1642): laid foundation for absolutism in France
Intendant System: sought to weaken nobility
Replaced local officials w/ civil servants who reported directly to the king
Largely filled by middle-class
Further developed mercantilism: increased taxation to fund military
Peace of Alais (1629): Huguenots lost fortified cities & Protestant armies
Began dictionary to standardize the French language
Foreign policy, esp. 30 Years’ War, weakened Hapsburg Empire
 Louis XIV (r. 1643-1715) – the “Sun King” L’état, c’est moi (“the state is myself”)
Best model of absolutism in Europe
Cardinal Jules Mazarin (1602-1661) : controlled France while Louis XIV a child
The Fronde: aborted revolution directed against Mazarin
“Divine Right theory of rule”: Bishop Jacques Bossuet
France had largest population in Europe (17 million): Accounted for 20% of pop.
Versailles Palace: became a pleasure prison for the French nobility
Religious Policies
Edict of Fountainbleau—revoked Edict of Nantes
Repressed Jansenism (a kind of Calvinism within Catholic Church)
Mercantilism
Jean Baptiste Colbert (1661-1683):promoted mercantilism esp. “bullionism”
His goals was self-sufficiency for France; built roads & canals; gov’t supported
monopolies; cracked down on guilds
 By 1683, France leading industrial country: textiles, mirrors, lacemaking,
foundries for steel making and firearms
Weaknesses:
Poor peasant conditions (esp. taxation) resulted in large emigration
Louis opted for army instead of navy; France later lost naval wars w/ England
War in later years nullified Colbert’s gains; Louis at war for 2/3 of his reign
French Classicism
Art: Nicholas Poussin (1593-1665)
Drama: Moliere (1622-1673)
Jean Baptiste Racine (1639-1699)
 Wars of Louis XIV: initially successful but eventually ruinous to France
Creation of modern army
William of Orange (later King William III of England) thwarted Louis’ expansionism
War of Devolution (First Dutch War), 1667-68
Second Dutch War (1672-78) – Invasion of the Dutch Rhineland
Peace of Nijmegan (1678-79): France took Franche-Comté from Spain
League of Augsburg (formed in 1686): HRE, Spain, Sweden, Bavaria, Saxony, Dutch Rep.
War of the League of Augsburg (1688-97) – ( King William’s War): ended in status quo
William of Orange (now king of England) brought England in against France.
War of Spanish Succession (1701-13) – (Queen Anne’s War)
will of Charles II (Hapsburg king): all Spanish territories to grandson of Louis XIV
Grand Alliance: England, Dutch Rep., HRE, Brandenburg, Portugal, Savoy
Battle of Blenheim (1704)
Treaty of Utrecht (1713):
Britain was biggest winner: gained asiento from Spain, Gibraltar and Minorca.
partitioned Spanish possessions: Belgium given to Austria
Louis’ grandson enthroned, prevented unification of Bourbon dynasties.
Kings recognized in Sardinia (Savoy) and Prussia (Brandenburg)
Costs of Louis XIV’s wars: destroyed French economy, depopulation, weakened Louis XIV.
 Decline of the Spanish Empire (although it remained most powerful military until mid-17th c.)
Spanish Armada, 1588
loss of middle class: Moriscos and Marranos (+ Moors and Jews a century earlier)
inflation
taxation
large number of privileged people who hated work
religion overshadowed politics
defeat in 30 Years’ War: politically and economically disastrous
1640, Portugal reestablished independence.
Treaty of the Pyranees (1659): marked end of Spain as a Great Power
loss of parts of Spanish Netherlands and territory in northern Spain to France
Population in 1660 had declined to 5.5 million from 7.5 million in 1550
Charles II (1665-1700): one of worst rulers in Hapsburg history
No heir to throne resulted in War of Spanish Succession
Spain lost most possessions at Treaty of Utrecht (1713)
Decline of Spain exemplified in Don Quixote by Miguel Cervantes (1605)
Constitutionalism in England
James I: belief in “divine right of kings”
King of Scotland; son of Mary “Queen of Scots”
Leadership of Church went to those with Arminian beliefs (predestination but
with “good works”)
Archbishop Laud tried to impose Catholic-style ritual; Puritans dismayed
King claimed “no bishop, no king” to Puritan demand to end bishop control.
Monarchy plagued by lack of revenue (expensive was of Elizabeth drained treasury)
Charles I (1625-1649): sought to rule without Parliament and to control the Anglican Church
Petition of Right, 1628: Parliament attempt to bribe king (taxes) in return for
accepting Parliament’s right to tax, habeas corpus, no quartering, and no
martial law in peacetime
Charles dissolved Parliament in 1629; did not reconvene until 1640
Religious persecution most important reason for civil war: led by Archbishop Laud
Long Parliament – summoned in 1640 (after failure of 2-month “Short Parliament”)
In return for granting taxation, Parliament made demands:
certain high leaders be tried: (Laud eventually executed)
Star Chamber abolished
Parliament could not be dissolved w/o its consent
 The English Civil War (Puritan Revolution; Great Rebellion) – 1642-1649
Cavaliers: supported the king
Roundheads, Puritans opposed king; Oliver Cromwell led “New Model Army”
major issues of the war
Battle of Nasby: Final major battle of war; Scottish Army assisted Cromwell
Division resulted between Presbyterians in Parliament (majority) and soldiers who
were independent and sought congregationalism
New Sects:
Levellers: Radical religious revolutionaries; sought social and political reform.
Quakers: believed in “inner light”; rejected church authority; pacifists
“Rump Parliament”: Pride’s Purge removed all non-Puritans and Presbyterians
from Parliament
Charles I beheaded in 1649
Interregnum: 1649-1660 rule without king
The Commonwealth (1649-1653): a republic – abolished monarch and House of Lords
The Protectorate (1653-1659), Oliver Cromwell Lord Protector (Dictatorship)
 The Restoration (1660-1688)
Parliament in 1660 reelected according to old franchise: Anglicans back in power
Charles II “The Merry Monarch” (1660-1685): Stuarts restored to the throne
Declaration of Breda: Charles agreed to abide by Parliament’s demands
The Clarendon Code, 1661: Anglicans excluded Dissenters (Puritans) from politics
Declaration of Indulgence, 1673: Charles II granted free worship to Catholics
Test Act of 1673: all officeholders must take communion in Anglican Church
Was Anglican response to Declaration of Indulgence
Habeas Corpus Act (1679): no arbitrary arrest and speedy trial
Parliament was split and fragmented into two political parties
Tories: king’s supporters, nobles
Whigs: middle-class and merchants; also high aristocracy
Scotland gained its independence in 1660 as result of Restoration
Charles attempted to impose Anglicanism in Scotland; war resulted
James II (1685-1688): sought to Catholicize England; forced to abdicate
Glorious Revolution (1688)
William III (William of Orange) and Mary: Protestantism secured in England
Act of Toleration: granted religious freedom (except to Catholics, Jews, and
Unitarians
Bill of Rights (1689): constitutional monarchy
British Constitution: consisted of habeas corpus act, petition of right, and bill of rights
John Locke: Two Treatises on Government: philosophical argument for supremacy of
Parliament
Act of Settlement (1701): only Anglican could succeed to the throne
War of the League of Augsburg (1688-97) – (King William’s War) – (see wars of Louis XIV)
Queen Anne (1702-1714):
Act of Union (1707) – English and Scottish Parliaments merged = Great Britain
Royal veto used for last time
Cabinet System of preparing laws for Parliament developed during early 18th century
Hanoverian Kings: George I, George II, George III
Prime minister became leader of cabinet and responsible to majority party in the
House of Commons.
Robert Walpole (1721-1742) became first prime minister
Weaknesses of British democracy (c. 1800)
Limited suffrage
unfair representation (“rotton boroughs”)
open voting
religious-property requirements for office
hereditary House of Lords
United Provinces of the Netherlands: 17th century = “Golden Age of the Netherlands”
 Confederation of 7 provinces: each province autonomous with its leader--stadtholder
wealthiest and most civilized country in Europe
Calvinism and Arminianism
Amsterdam became center of commerce (replacing Antwerp)
Impact of War of Spanish Succession (Treaty of Utrecht)
Sweden: Gustavus Adolphus (1611-32) reorganized gov’t; nobles dominated army & bureaucracy
ABSOLUTISM IN EASTERN EUROPE
Three aging empires: gave way to new empires of Austria Prussia and Russia
Holy Roman Empire: religious divisions and war in 16th and 17th century
Ottoman Empire: could not maintain possessions in E. Europe and Balkans
Poland: liberum veto – voting in Polish parliament had to be unanimous (= weak gov’t)
serfdom: beginning in 16th century and continuing into 18th century, mass of peasantry became serfs
robot: peasants owed lord 3 to 4 days a week of forced labor
Austrian Empire
 Multinational empire: Austrian, Hungarian, & Bohemian kingdoms
 Cosmopolitan aristocracy: serfdom
 Leopold I (1658-1705),: successfully repelled Turks
 Turkish threat: relatively religiously tolerant empire
 Suleiman the Magnificent (d. 1566): nearly conquered Austria in 1529, captured Belgrade
(Serbia), nearly 1/2 of Eastern Europe including all Balkan territories, most of Hungary, and part of
southern Russia.
 “Janissary corps”: former Christian children dedicated fully to the military
 siege of Vienna, 1683: last attempt by Turks to take Central Europe
 Pragmatic Sanction (1713) issued by Charles VI: Habsburg territories indivisible; only Habsburgs could
rule
Prussia: House of Hohenzollern
Frederick William – The “Great Elector”(1640-1688)
Brandenburg-Prussia rule consolidated after 30 Years’ War: military force & taxation
Junkers: nobility sided with king for stability; hereditary serfdom in 1653
Created most efficient army in Europe
Frederick I (Elector Frederick III) “The Ostentatious” (1688-1713); 1st “King of Prussia”
Allied with Habsburgs in War of League of Augsburg and War of Spanish Succession
Frederick William I (1713-1740) “The Soldiers’ King”
Established Prussian abolutism
“Sparta of the North”: Largely a military state – best army in Europe
Junkers became officers caste in army in return for king’s absolutism
Russia
Slavic and Viking ancestry: 1st millenium AD
Boyars: Russian nobles
Mongols – “Golden Horde” took control in 13th c: left legacy of ruthless rule
Ivan III “Ivan the Great” (1442-1505)
“Third Rome”: Assumed leadership of Orthodox Christian Church;
Ivan IV “Ivan the Terrible” (1533-1584), first to take title “tsar”
Married a Romanov
Defeated last of Mongels: conquered Baltic, Far East, and Black Sea region
Began westernizing
Peasants fled oppressive rule: became “Cossacks”; led to more severe serfdom
“Time of Troubles”, 1584: period of chaos after Ivan’s death
Romanov Dynasty (1613-1917)
Michael Romanov (1613-1645)
Created Russian empire across Asia to the Pacific (largest nation by 1689)
“Old Believers” (The Raskolniki): resisted westernization, severely persecuted.
Peter the Great (1682-1725)
1698, put down revolt by strelski (Moscow Guards)
westernization (modernization): mostly for military purposes
state-regulated monopolies created; industrial serfdom
Table of Ranks: educational training for new civil service (mostly of nobles)
St. Petersburg begun in 1703 on Baltic; largest city in Northern Europe by his death.
“Winter Palace” sought to emulate Versailles.
Great Northern War (1700-1721)
Charles XII, 18-yr-old Swedish king
Battle of Poltava, 1709: Peter defeated Sweden
Treaty of Nystad (1721): Peter gained Baltic states “window to the West”
Catharine II, “Catharine the Great” (1762-96) – (see Enlightened Despotism)
THE BAROQUE: The “Age of Bernini”
 characteristics: emphasis on grandeur, spaciousness, unity, and emotional impact
Gianlorenzo Bernini (1598-1650): sculptor, architect, painter;
Colonnade for piazza in front of St. Peter’s Basilica
Versailles Palace: Marquis Louvois (architecture); Louis LeVau (1612-70) -- gardens
Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna: Leopold I’s response to Versailles
Art
Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640)
Rembrandt Van Rijn (1606-1669) – greatest painter of the era
Nicolas Poussin (1595-1665) – French Classicism
El Greco: Mannerism (1541-1614) --Emphasized dramatic and emotional qualities
Music
Monteverdi (1547-1643) Orfeo (1607)—first opera
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Johann Sebastian Bach (16?-1750)
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Rococo (in France)
Characteristics: elegance, pleasantness, frivolity; contrasts emotional grandeur of Baroque
influenced Haydn and Mozart during the classical period in music (1770-1800)
SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION
Regiomontanus and Nicholas of Cusa: laid mathematical framework for Copernicus and others
Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543)
heliocentric view (instead of geocentric view)
Church officials force Copernicus to retract his views
Tycho Brahe (1546-1601) – mass of scientific data from observations used by Kepler & others
Johann Kepler (1571-1630) – 3 laws of planetary motion
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) – telescope, proves Copernicus’s heliocentric theory
Medicine: Scientists began challenging Greco-Roman medical authority (esp. Galen-2nd c. AD)
Vesalius The Structure of the Human Body (1543): renewed and modernized study of anatomy
William Harvey (1578-1657): On the Movement of the Heart and Blood (1628)-- blood circulation
Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
empiricism: “renounce notions and form acquaintance with things”
inductive method: conclusion is reached after much observation
Rene Descartes (1596-1650)
deductive method: conclusion is reached by logic
“I think, therefore I am” (cognito ergo sum)
Cartesian dualism: divided all existence into the spiritual and the material
Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1747): Principia
universal gravitation
Royal Society founded in 1662 to promote scientific research; other academies founded in Europe
 Significance of scientific revolution: leads to
 Enlightenment
 Agricultural Revolution
 Improvement in exploration
THE ENLIGHTENMENT
 secular world view: first time in human history; marked end of age of religion
natural science and reason
deism: God created universe and then stepped back and left it running (like a clock)
Grew out of Newton’s theories regarding natural law
Thomas Paine, Age of Reason: advocates deism
progress: improve society through natural laws
Rationalists: advocated perfectibility of society
Descartes
Baruch Spinoza (1632-77): equated God and nature; impersonal mechanical universe; denied
free will
Empiricists: emphasized observation as basis for epistemology
Francis Bacon – inductive method
 John Locke (1632-1704)
Two Treatises on Civil Government: justified supremacy of Parliament; natural rights
Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690): tabula rasa (“blank slate”)
considered one of most important Enlightenment works
all human knowledge is the result of sensory experience: thus, human progress
is in the hands of society—education!
 classical liberalism: (see handout)
Philosophes: those who made Enlightenment ideas available to a wider audience
Edward Gibbon: The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire – attacked Christianity
Bernard de Fontenelle (1657-1757): made scientific revolution accessible to many people
Marquis di Beccaria: sought to humanize the criminal law
Marquis de Condorcet: human progress would eventually lead to its perfection
 The Three Great French Philosophes
Voltaire (Francois-Marie Arouet) (1694-1778): Candide
Baron de Montesqueiu (1689-1755): Spirit of the Laws (1748): checks and balances
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-78): Social Contract (1762): general will
Denis Diderot (1713-1784) Encyclopedia: greatest and most representative intellectual achievements
of the philosophes
Economic theory
Francois Quesnay (1694-1774) – “physiocrats”: opposed to mercantilist economic theory
advocated reform of the agrarian order.
Adam Smith (1727-1790): Wealth of Nations (1776): The “Bible” of capitalism; laissez faire
Gender theory: women played important role in organizing salons
Salons of Madame de Geoffren and Louise de Warens
Mary Wollstonecraft
Later Enlightenment:
Baron Paul d’Holbach (1723-1789): humans were machines governed by outside forces
freewill, God, and immortality of soul were foolish myths
severe blow to unity of the Enlightenment
David Hume (1711-76): emphasized limitations of human reasoning; human mind is nothing but a
bundle of impressions; later became dogmatic skeptic that undermined Enlightenment
Rousseau believed rationalism and civilization was destroying rather than liberating the
individual; emphasized nature, passion—influenced early Romantic movement
Immanuel Kant (1724-1794): Separated science and morality into separate branches of
knowledge. Science could describe natural phenomena of material world but could not provide a guide
for morality
 Significance of the Enlightenment: leads to
 Enlightened despotism
 American and French Revolutions (as a result of classical liberalism)
 educational reform
 laissez faire capitalism (in 19th century, esp. U.S.)
Theistic opposition to the Enlightenment
German pietism: argued need for spiritual conversion and religious experience
Methodism: taught need for spiritual regeneration and a moral life that would demonstrate
reality of the conversion
John Wesley (1703-91):
Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield in America (1st Great Awakening)
Jansenism (Catholic sect) in France argued against idea of an uninvolved or impersonal God
ENLIGHTENED DESPOTISM – some monarchs adopted certain Enlightenment ideas
 Overview: In sum, reforms were made but very modest improvements occurred and life of the peasantry
remained hard in the 18th century.
 Progressive reforms included toleration of religious minorities, simplified legal codes, and promotion of
practical education.
 Yet, Absolutists more vigorously sought reforms to strengthen the state and allow them to compete militarily
with their neighbors.
 In essence, continued state building of their predecessors.
 “Frederick the Great” (Frederick II: 1740-1786) of Prussia
 At war for first half of his reign
 War of Austrian Succession (1740-1748) – (King George’s War – 1744-1748)
Prussia, France, Bavaria & Spain vs. Austria and Russia
Took Silesia from Austria; Prussia now most powerful German state: “Great Power”
Treaty of Aix-laChapelle (1748): legitimized Frederick’s conquest.
 Seven Years War (1756-1763) – (French and Indian War)
Prussia alone in fighting France, Russia & Austria (outnumbered 15-1)
“Diplomatic Revolution of 1756: Britain allied with Prussia (but of little value)
Peter III of Russia let Prussia off the hook at a critical moment
Treaty of Paris (1763): Prussia retained Silesia; remained a “Great Power”
 Became a reformer during 2nd half of his reign – ruler was the “first servant of the state”
 Religious freedom, education in schools and universities, codified laws, promoted industry and
agriculture, encouraged immigration
 Social structure remained heavily stratified: serfdom; extended privileges for the nobility, Junkers
became heart of military; difficult upward mobility for middle class leadership
Catherine II of Russia (1762-1798) “Catherine the Great” – 1 of greatest rulers in Euro history
 Least “enlightened” of the Enlightened Despots
 westernization: architecture, sculpture, music--supported philosophes
 reforms: reduced torture, limited religious toleration, some education improvement, increased
local control
 Pugachev Rebellion (1773): largest peasant uprising in Russian history;
 Catherine gained support from nobility by granting greater control over serfs: high point for nobles--low
point for serfs
 territorial expansion
 Annexed Polish territory: 3 partitions of Poland in 1772, 1793, and 1795
 Gained Ottoman land in the Crimea (controlled by Tartars)
 Began conquest of Caucasus
 In 17th century, effectiveness of Russian monarchs limited by vast Russian territories
Austria
 Maria Theresa (1740-1780): Wars of 1740s led to internal consolidation
 Reduced serfdom (more than any other e. European ruler except her son)
Joseph II (1765-1790) – greatest of the Enlightened despots (“greatest good for greatest #”)
 Abolished serfdom in 1781, freedom of press, freedom of religion & civic rights, more equitable justice
system, made German official language (to assimilate minorities), increased control over Catholic
education, expanded state schools, left empire in economic and political turmoil: Leopold I rescind many
laws (e.g., serfdom)
France: rise of aristocratic power and liberalism resulted in end of absolutism
Louis XV (1715-1774):
Madame de Pompadour: most famous mistress of the 18th c.
charmed the king and gained decision-making power
Parlement of Paris (partial to nobles) blocked Louis’ absolutist ambitions
Renè de Maupeou: dissolved Parlement of Paris
Louis XVI (1774-1792)
reinstated Parlement of Paris (due to strong public opinion) & dismissed Maupeau
struggle with aristocracy and bourgeoisie resulted in the French Revolution.